


Goodbye

by flight815kitsune



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Captain America: The Winter Soldier Compliant, Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2014-05-14
Packaged: 2018-01-24 17:05:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1612718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flight815kitsune/pseuds/flight815kitsune
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve pays one last visit to Peggy and discovers he might not be as alone as he thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbye

“Oh Howard, always off to get something accomplished. You must bring Tony by one of these days, I haven’t seen him in ages.”

“No problem, Peg.”

“I still outrank you you know.”

“Never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

A chime of laughter. “Where would the fun be in that?”

“See you around, Agent Peg.” The second he passed the doorframe, the smile vanished. As he pulled the door behind him shut with a click, the line of his shoulders dropped.

Steve stared, not sure if he should announce his presence or not. With the pressed suit and his hair combed back from what had to have been for a meeting, Tony was undeniably Howard’s son.

“Hey, Steve.” And even his voice was slower and softer than it had been a moment before. He caught Steve’s gaze and glanced down at his clothes. “It wasn’t intentional.”

“I didn’t think it was. You were working?”

“Yeah. Got the call and came right over. Don't know when they put me on the contact list. They don’t think it’ll be long.”

 

He went into the room like he would any other visit. Her “Steve!” was a bright as it always was, but her eyes were tired. She seemed so small in the bed, and the light shade of the sheets did nothing but make her paler. Her grip on his hand was tight.

They talked about long-ago battles as though they were yesterday and current events as though they were one in the same. He didn’t know some of what she was talking about. It could have been something he missed or something that had never happened at all. He smiled politely anyway.

She forgot who he was twice, and told him that her husband would be there soon once.

“Are you alright?” She smiled at him with a hint of concern. The rattle in her breath was loud, now. Her breaths as frightening as they were comforting.

He froze. “Fine.”

“I know that look. You’re lucky you’re an honest man, because you’re a terrible liar.”

“They found him.” The words are out before he realizes he thought them. He hadn’t told her, hadn’t wanted to get her hopes up. Now it didn’t really matter. “Bucky. They found him.”

“Oh, Steve.” And she thought he was talking about a body.

“He’s alive. Russia had him. Changed him.”

The squeeze of her hand was the barest flex of her fingers.

“I can’t find him.” He lost Bucky and now he was losing her, too.

“You will, if he doesn’t find you first.”

 

She fell asleep telling him about her wedding.

“Peggy?” The word was a whisper. She didn’t stir, but her chest still rose and fell. When he squeezed her hand, there was nothing in response. The words come by force of will. “I wish I could have been there.” The tears streaking down his face had no right to feel scalding with the room as warm as it was. “I’m sorry.” He listed all the things he wished they had done, apologies for every event that he had missed, her name over and over until it didn’t seem like a word anymore. The fingers resting in his grew cold. When he looked up from where his forehead rested against their joined hands, she wasn’t breathing anymore. He apologized again for missing their date anyway.

The nurse came and went. Clicked off the machines. She touched his shoulder, but didn’t offer any words. He didn’t know what he would have done if she had.

 

He re-entered the hall what felt like an eternity later, letting the door click quietly shut. Enough time had passed that the tightness of his throat had sunk to the area of his ribcage.

 

Tony glanced up from his phone with misty eyes, the suit jacket a pile on the chair beside him and the sleeves of the shirt rolled up to his elbows. The tie had been discarded and his hair was sticking up in familiar angles. Sneakered feet invaded all available floor space. “You wanna get a drink?”

He hadn’t expected Tony to still be here.

“I need a drink. A drink and something deep fried.” Tony stood up, throwing the jacket over his arm and stuffing his phone into his pocket.

“I can’t get drunk.”

“That’s…inconvenient.”

The disappointment in Tony’s tone shocked a smile out of him.

“Come on, Cap. We’ll figure something out.” The hand on his back shouldn’t have been as grounding as it was.


End file.
